Kamen Rider W: The Other Side
by Soulsilverlord
Summary: Two years ago Shotari Hidari was shot and killed on Begins Night. In the present Sokichi Narumi visits his junior partner one last time, after the defeat of the Dopants. [ONE SHOT]


Kamen Rider W: The Other Side

* * *

I sit at my desk, my mind wandering. Everything was finally over and done with. Philip had returned and Akiko had become engaged to Ryu Terui. Something is missing though. My thoughts return to that night, only one year ago. The others are in the adjacent room, doing as they usually did. My eyes wandered to the corner of my desk.

"Shotaro…" I say, looking down at a picture on my desk. Shotaro was always so sentimental about working. He was a half-boiled detective, but his kindness made him a hard-boiled man. He had done what he thought was right that night. He tried to get Philip before I could do anything. I was a hard-boiled detective, but that night shook me to my core. To that day I could not touch my daughter, lest she die. Shotaro was like the son I never had. He took time out of his school days to help me. It became something he wanted to do.

"Boss, what's wrong?" a voice chimed in from the other side of the room. It was Terui speaking. I must have looked forlorn.

"It's nothing Terui. Absolutely nothing. If you wouldn't mind taking over for right now, I think I'll go on a bit of a walk." I say, getting up from my desk and putting on my hat. Again my mind reaches back in time. Shotaro never did get to wear a hat. Hell, his body was never found after the destruction of the tower. His last words shook me, and continue to do so when I think about it.

_"Boss… Did I make up for everything?" Shotaro choked out, blood spilling from the gunshot wound._

_ "Yes Shotaro. You did make up for it all." I said, holding the dying body of my student. This young man who wanted to be a detective never would._

_ "Thank you, Boss. Thanks for everything you ever taught me. You made my life worth living again." Shotaro said shakily, pulling out a folded up picture. "I know you hate this kind of stuff, but I kept that picture you told me to throw away. Take it and remember me, Boss."_

_ I looked down at him. I took the pictured from his hand, just as it went limp._

Terui looked down at the picture that Boss had on his desk. It was a picture of him and a young man, wearing a Futo High School uniform. The young man held a sign promoting the office, while Boss looked somewhat furious and embarrassed at the same time. He had never seen this photo before, despite being here for two years.

"Hey Philip, you were here before any of us. Who is this?" Terui asks, showing the picture to the sitting Philip and Akiko.

"That is Shotaro Hidari." Philip says, pushing back his hair and opening his book. "He was the boss' partner."

"Dad's partner? I thought you and Ryu were the only ones who worked here." Akiko says, wondering about the mysterious young student.

"Boss doesn't speak about it. It happened on Begins Night. That boy tried to get me out of the tower where I had been. When Skull arrived the Taboo Dopant and armed guards opened fire at us. Shotaro Hidari took a bullet for Sokichi Narumi that night. That night Shotaro Hidari lost his life." Philip explains. "The Gaia Memory that doesn't work, Joker, was meant for him. A connection to the trump card."

"What does that mean Philip? A connection to the trump card?" Terui asks, removing the Gaia Memory that never worked in the Double Driver.

"I do not know. Maybe somewhere in this vast universe, Shotaro Hidari survived that night. The Joker does not work, but why? I assume it is his, even to this day; Shotaro Hidari is the only one who can use it. We will never know though…"

I walk down the streets of Futo. The wind blows on me as I walk near an old ramen shop. Shotaro used to always drag me here after a case had been solved. There was never a case where he hadn't done it. It had been his favorite, and despite being less than desirable I would as well. He never listened and I would always reprimand him for doing things his own way. However, he always came back. His tenacity showed that he was willing to improve every time. I could at least allow him to choose a place to eat.

The wind continues to beat on me as I head toward the cemetery. The sky is gray and threatening. I had been through so much and things changed as well. Two young partners and my daughter had come to me. Despite this, they never had the same gall that Shotaro had had. When the cure of the Spider Dopant was removed I could hug my daughter once again. Those three, however, could not fill the wound that had been shot in me that night.

I look down at the tombstone, Shotaro always one for more western customs. His body had not be cremated and instead buried with a simple tombstone over his coffin. His name, birth date, and death date were all inscribed on it. I take my hat and kneel down next to it. It was my fault. I should have never brought him that night. He wasn't enough of a man to have handled such a job with a Kamen Rider, at least not at that point. I sigh and place that hat down on his grave.

Two years ago a young man wandered into my office, his face beaming with a simple question. "Can you teach me Sokichi Narumi? Can you make me a hard-boiled detective?"

I could only nod. The boy had wanted it so much. He worked harder than anyone else ever had. Shotaro to the very end was my partner, even if he was no good at listening or fighting. The little lost girl who was crying because she was lost from her mother. Shotaro had been the one with the kindness to help the two reunite. I was hardened by the harsh and unforgiving world. Though Shotaro had also face such trouble before, he never lost that smile. I stand back up and look up to the sky, where the rain had begun to fall. My eyes return to in front of me.

Across the cemetery, under an old tree, stood someone. He was wearing all white. I cannot see his face because of the rain, but I do see something. Was it I? A red Lost Driver in his hand and a black Gaia Memory. I check to see if it is still with me. It is. I look back up to see the man gone. I look down one last time to the grave.

"Goodbye, Shotaro. I wanted to say thank you." I leave, the hat still on the grave. It does not sway even in the wind of the storm.

_Fin_


End file.
